why is the interdepence of oligopolistic business so important in
shaping their business strategy? ( this is an essay question). 

Accounts should be taken on the following factors in marking:

a) structure
b) context
c) amount and quality and research
d) presentation

The word count should be 3000 words.

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Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 17 Oct 2002 06:33 PDT

Dear Ericcc, 

Do you need help writing this essay, or do you need a completed essay?

I must add, that at the rate of $10 (=$7.5 to the researcher), a 3000
word essay means a maximum of $0.75 a page. Personally, I don't do
homework for anyone but myself (and I recommend you to do the same),
but I wonder what level of research one gets of $0.75 a page.

Well, I'll go a little further than politicalguru-ga. But I'm stopping
short of writing an essay :P

Basically, there are two extremes a market can exist in: perfect
competition and monopoly (I'm ignoring monopsony :P). Now, an
oligopolistic market can be 'monopolised' (through a formal or
informal cartel) or highly competative. There is nothing to say how a
market will behave other than perhaps it's history. If the firms have
a high price, someone might 'cheat' and cut their price, leading to a
competative price war. Likewise, someone might raise their prices, and
everyone might follow, realising that the market is becoming
cartelised.

For further reading consult the Cournot model, Cournot-Nash, Bertrand
model, repeated play, supergames, Richer strategies, limit-output
model.

Even better, go to a public library and check out a book on
"Introductory Microeconomics" (of which there are trillions with that
exact name) and read the chapter on Oligopoly and market structure
(which it will have)